Skagway - Musher's Camp & Dog Sled Adventure (USA)

Anyone who thinks that dog sledding is just for winter is wrong 🙂 Even in the summer months you can experience this adventure in Alaska. To get a glimpse of a dog sled camp, we took part in the Musher’s Camp & Sled Dog Experience after our walk through Skagway in the afternoon.

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Musher’s Camp in Skagway

The trip via Princess Cruises takes just over 3 hours and costs USD 160 per person. For the tour we – and about 20 other passengers – were picked up by a small bus directly at the port and driven to Musher’s Camp. On the way there we learned from our driver all kinds of Things to know about Skagway, but also the surroundings and the work in the camp.

Our trip took us to the parking lot of Musher’s Camp within about 15 to 20 minutes. From here we went a bit on foot to the actual camp. In the yard of the camp there is a large souvenir shop and from here also the off-road trucks start, which have brought us up to the sled dogs.

The way to the camp

The souvenir shop in the camp

Sled Dog and Musher's Camp

Switching to a terrain truck

The ride with the dog sled

A short time later, it actually started. Over stick and stone we moved slowly forward with the Unimog and it went higher and higher. After about 30 minutes we arrived up in the mountains in the dog camp. Already from a distance we could see how “our dogs” were waiting for us and couldn’t wait for it to finally start.

Our group then spread out relatively quickly to the individual dog sleds. Each car was open to 6 people. After our musher had given us some instructions, we started.

The dog sledge team

The sled dogs

Welcome to our sled dogs

Entry into the dog sled

As if stung by the tarantula, the 15 dogs suddenly ran off and pulled our dog sledge behind them. At first we thought we were going to do a bigger lap in the forest, but unfortunately we always drove the same loop – and the whole 3 times. We actually thought that the dogs are faster and more focused on the road, because often it happened that the guide dog suddenly stopped and sniffed at the grass or a dog had to do his business (while running). It is clear that these are animals that certainly have their own head, but since the journey lasted only about 15 minutes, we kind of imagined it a little differently. This is certainly also due to the fact that one has the pictures and scenes of dog sled races in the snow in mind and that often looks a little more fluid and “elegant”.

By the way, a musher is the technical term for the person who steers a dog sledge. He stands on the sled and steers his team alone through called commands, which must be implemented by the guide dog.

After we had arrived at the starting point, we had the opportunity to get to know “our” dogs and pet them.

The dog sleds on wheels

Dog Mushing - The National Sport of Alaska

The dog sledge team

Look me in the eye

The dog puppies at Musher’s Camp

After a short time we went with the Unimog back to the camp, where we learned more about the history of the dog sled race from a member of staff, because after all, the so-called “Dog Mushing” is Alaska’s national sport and thus has a high priority. By the way, the longest dog sled race in the world is the Iditarod. It runs for more than 1,850 kilometers through the barely touched nature of Alaska.

At the end of our excursion a little highlight was waiting for us – well, actually there were a lot of highlights: We were allowed to caress little puppies 🙂 They were so cute!

A talk about the dog sled races in Alaska

The cute husky puppies

Husky puppy on the arm

One of the Husky puppies

On our way back to Skagway we stopped at a lookout point, which offered a great view of Nahku Bay. We also saw a bald eagle sitting directly in a tree on the road.

Nahku Bay, View Point, Skagway, Alaska, USA, Travel Report, Princess Cruise

View of Nahku Bay

White-headed Eagle, Tree, Alaska, Skagway, USA, Cruise, Wildlife, Travel Report

A bald eagle

During our stay in Skagway today we took the chance to see bears in the wild with a trip to Haines.

All travelogues from our Alaska Cruise

Our cruise on the Royal Princess took us for a week along the coast from Vancouver north to Whittier (Anchorage). On this great cruise adventure around the northernmost state of the USA we visited the cities of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We also took a scenic cruise in Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord with breathtaking views of Alaska's glaciers.